MC partnering with Chevron for energy savings

Published 2:07 pm, Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Midland College will realize more than $3.6 million in savings over the next 15 years, thanks to an agreement with Chevron Energy Solutions.

Trustees unanimously approved the nearly $2.8 million contract at its meeting Tuesday afternoon. The contract was Phase II of the plan with Chevron, and deals mainly with internal lighting and cloud services.

Work on Phase II will begin nearly immediately with most improvements completed by the end of this calendar year, and the final work wrapping up in October 2015.

Savings in the first year will total $787,000, and reach $3.6 million by the end of the contract. Additionally, Midland College will receive an estimated $75,000 rebate from Oncor because of reduced energy demand.

Phase II includes converting indoor lighting to LED bulbs on 23 buildings, applying window film on 1,244 windows to reduce sunlight’s heating effects, replacing the inefficient chillers at the residence and dining halls, improving temperature controls in three buildings and switching to cloud computing.

Dennis Sever, vice president of Information Technology and Facilities, said a review of the proposal shows the conversion to LED won’t save as much on energy as it will on labor.

“If I have light fixtures that last three-to-five times longer than a fluorescent tube, I don’t have somebody in your office or in a faculty member’s office changing a light bulb (as often),” Sever said.

Currently, the college replaces about 50 to 120 bulbs a week. There are more than 35,000 bulbs around campus, he said.

“This is a significant deal for labor savings at a time when I find labor hard to come by in the facilities department,” he said.

Phase I was approved in November at a cost of $761,640, and includes replacing or retrofitting exterior lighting. Phase I began in March and will last through the end of August. Exterior lighting changes will save $745,940 over the guarantee period, and will lead to an approximately $28,000 rebate from Oncor.

More than 1,600 outdoor lights were changed to LED lighting in Phase I.

When combined, both phases will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1,045 tons, sulfur dioxide emissions by 1.8 tons and mono-nitrogen oxides by 0.6 tons, according to a presentation by Geoff Howland, business development manager for Chevron Energy Solutions in Dallas. This is the environmental equivalent to removing about 240 passenger vehicles or planting 950 acres of trees, according to the presentation.

“This is something, from my perspective, you should be proud of and should be talking about in terms of sustainability that you’re bringing,” Howland said.

If the full energy savings aren’t realized, Chevron must figure out why, and then cut Midland College a check for the balance, Howland said.

Rick Bender, vice president of Administrative Services, said the bulk of the contract’s expenses — about $2 million — will be paid from reserves in the 2014-15 budget, while the rest will be paid from this year’s budget.